A portmanteau of "malicious advertising," malvertising has become more problematic in recent years, as newer forms of malvertising can infect computers and mobile devices without any action taken on part of the user – in other words, without the user even needing to click on the malware-laden ad.

The Payload and High Costs Associated with Malvertising

Malvertising code can secretly run on your computer, deliver malware payloads, and execute the payload before you or your security software has a chance to identify and prevent it from happening. And malvertising creators have started scanning their products before releasing them into the wild to make sure that they aren't readily picked up by antivirus software.